This newsletter is published monthly by the Mystical Order of the White Rose, a multi-faith devotional and spiritual support organization. We support-- and share information about-- mystical, monastic, contemplative and creative ways of living. We encourage prayer, the reading of sacred scripture(s), lectio divina, meditation, journaling, solitude, fasting, silence, sacred movement (dance, mudras, yoga), kindness, hospitality, worship, simplicity, creativity, active involvement in spiritual and religious communities, and loving service to others. You can view past issues here and you can subscribe to the newsletter by clicking here.

Theme: Prayer Revisited

Table of Contents

--   A Modern Version of the Lord's Prayer by Eugene H. Peterson

--   Why Don't We Pray? by Helene Ciaravino

--   The Ability to Answer by Abraham Joshua Heschel

--   Links of Interest

--   Multi-Faith, Multi-Media Daily Devotionals

-- Other Resources

Prayer is universal. Ultimately it’s a way of communing with the divine.

-Jane Hope

The Lord's Prayer

(a modern version)

   Our Father in heaven,
   Reveal who you are.
   Set the world right;
   Do what's best— as above, so below.
   Keep us alive with three square meals.
   Keep us forgiven with you and forgiving others.
   Keep us safe from ourselves and the Devil.
   You're in charge!
   You can do anything you want!
   You're ablaze in beauty!
    Yes. Yes. Yes.

The Message (MSG) Matthew 6:9-13
Copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002
by Eugene H. Peterson

Why Don't We Pray?

by Helene Ciaravino

You might be surprised to discover how many hindrances to prayer life are firmly rooted in fear. For example, some people avoid prayer because they don’t feel worthy of communicating with a perfect God. That translates into fear of inferiority in the face of an angry and unforgiving deity. Some people don’t pray because they think it may be a waste of their time. That translates into fear that either they can’t pray effectively, or that God doesn’t care enough to listen. Some people don’t pray because they are uncomfortable with the vulnerability that comes with opening themselves wholly up to God. That’s a fear of intimacy. The good news is that people can overcome these fears. The following discussions look at the most common fears that prevent people from praying, and explain how you can redirect the energy lost on fear into a courageous and vibrant prayer practice.

Copyright © 2001 by Helene Ciaravino
Excerpt from How to Pray by Helene Ciaravino (Garden City Park, New York: Square One Publishers)

Source: http://www.modernpaths.com/library/prayer/articles/f_lib_article_hc_whydont.html

The Ability to Answer

by Abraham Joshua Heschel

We do not refuse to pray. We merely feel that our tongues are tied, our minds inert, our inner vision dim, when we are about to enter the door that leads to prayer. We do not refuse to pray; we abstain from it. We ring the hollow bell of selfishness rather than absorb the stillness that surrounds the world, hovering over al the restlessness and fear of life--the secret stillness that precedes our birth and succeeds our death.

Futile self-indulgence brings us out of tune with the gentle song of nature's waiting, of mankind's striving for salvation. Is not listening to the pulse of wonder worth silence and abstinence from self-assertion? Why do we not set apart an hour of living devotion to God by surrendering to stillness?

We dwell on the edge of mystery and ignore it, wasting our souls, risking our stake in God. We constantly pour our inner light away from Him, setting up the thick screen of self between Him and us, adding more shadows to the darkness that already hovers between Him and our wayward reason. Accepting surmises as dogmas, and prejudices as solutions, we ridiculte the evidence of life for what is more than life. Our mind has ceased to be sensitive to wonder. Deprived of the power of devotion to what is more important than our individual fate, steeped in passionate anxiety to survive, we lose sight of what fate is, of what living is. Rushing through the ectasies of ambition, we only awake when plunged into dread or grief. In darkness, then, we grope for solace, for meaning, for prayer.

Excerpt from Man's Quest for God--Studies in Prayer and Symbolism by Abraham Joshua Heschell, p. 4

Links of Interest

Daily Office

Video: "The Prayer" sung by Dion Celine and Andrea Bocelli with lyrics

Video: "Prayer" performed by Secret Garden

Sacred Strands--Making Your Own Prayer Beads

Centering Prayer

Writing Your Own Daily Prayer

Introduction to Body Prayer

Make Your Own Prayer Book

Christian Prayer Resources

Prayers to Sophia

The Science of Prayer and Healing

Prayers to the Blessed Virgin Mary

A Portable Cathedral for the 21st Century

A Prayer Book for the 21st Century by John McQuistion II

Modern Paths: Prayers & Reflections

Fellowship In Prayer

Sacred Journey Multi-Faith Journal

Video: Rising Spirit & Little Grandmother

Medieval Women Monastics

Benedictine Spirituality Resources

Geranium Farm

Mystical & Visionary Jewelry

Daily Multi-faith, Multi-media Devotionals for August 2011

Each day we should expose ourselves to the inspiration of others. Thousands of saints and wise men and women have left us messages of hope and encouragement. Read what is honest. Read the scriptures and the commentaries. Read great literature and poetry. Read the psalms. Read that which expresses the anguish and the exhilaration of experience, and teaches us that we are not alone.

- John McQuiston II, p. 88, Always We Begin Again--The Benedictine Way of Living

August 2011

August 1

August 2

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August 8